Buccaneers overcome slow start to stay within striking distance at East regional

GREENVILLE, N.C. (May 7, 2010) - Unable to maintain the record-setting pace it set in the first round, the ETSU women's golf team dropped from a tie for sixth to 12th on the team leaderboard Friday during second round play in the NCAA East Regional hosted by East Carolina at the Ironwood Country Club.

While the 48th-ranked Buccaneers got off to a slow start, the team rallied on the back nine to keep alive their hopes for a berth in the NCAA Championships later this month. The Bucs, who still finished ahead of teams such as No. 9 Wake Forest, are just eight strokes out of eighth place, which is critical because the top eight teams advance to the championships.

"We had a rough start today," said ETSU head coach Stefanie Shelton. "But the girls battled back with even par on the back nine. I'm proud of their fight, and we are ready for the chance to compete tomorrow. We have one day left and one more chance to play great and advance."

While No. 3 Duke leads at 8-under 568 as a team, the Bucs are in 12th at 13-over 589 and eight strokes back of eighth-place Florida. Individually, ETSU sophomore Nina Muehl (Vienna, Austria) held the first round lead after her record round of 8-under 64 on Thursday, but followed that effort with a 4-over 76 on Friday. Muehl is still currently tied for fifth and just one stroke back of a quartet of players who are tied for the lead.

Muehl was not the only ETSU player to post a 76, as seniors Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) and Sinead O'Sullivan (Galway, Ireland), and sophomore Mayte Vizcarrondo (Cadiz, Spain) also carded the same 4-over-par score.

Third and final round action will be played Saturday. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com, and ETSUBucs.com will provide a full recap following the day's play.